APS Bomet head coach Benedict Wanjala has opened up on the motivation behind his team’s remarkable 4–1 triumph over record SportPesa League champions Gor Mahia at Nyayo Stadium on Tuesday.
The victory handed Gor Mahia their heaviest league defeat since 2006 where they lost by a similar margin against now defunct Oserian FC.
The Bomet-based side, who have struggled to find their footing in their maiden SportPesa Premier League campaign, produced a spirited and fearless performance against the record champions.
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APS Bomet thrash Gor Mahia
Former AFC Leopards midfielder Hansel Ochieng’ was the architect of the victory, scoring twice and setting up another in a historic win for the newcomers.
According to coach Wanjala, the excitement of playing against Kenya’s most decorated club for the very first time was the biggest fuel behind his players’ hunger and intensity.
“Most of my players had not faced Gor Mahia ever and this was their first time and that was the motivation. I told them that we must win that game. If there’s an easy game to win that’s playing against Gor Mahia, such big games motivate you and help to build you as a player,” he said.
APS Bomet had endured a difficult start to the season, picking up only one win, a 2-1 victory over Kariobangi Sharks and conceding 12 goals while scoring just six in eight matches.
Despite this, Wanjala believes the team has not been performing as poorly as the results suggest.
“We’ve not been playing badly, we’ve been playing well in all our matches. There’s no team that has been better than us but we’ve not been defending well.
We also gave an easy goal against Gor Mahia today and if you can see we’ve been creating so many chances in our previous matches and we’ve been working on scoring.
I told them if there’s a game of building on the confidence of scoring, it is this one against champions with the team having most players turning for the national team and I told them this is an opportunity of building yourself as a player and also as a team,” he said.
The emphatic victory has now injected much-needed belief into the squad, as APS Bomet look to climb out of the relegation zone and gain stability in their debut top-flight season.
“With this win it’s going to build our confidence going into the next matches,” the coach added.
APS Bomet now shift focus to their upcoming clash against Sofapaka, where Wanjala hopes his side can maintain their newfound momentum and record back-to-back victories for the first time this season.